barriers of race and gender

As we approach 2016, the nation turns its attention to the long, arduous path to the White House, now occupied by an African-American and sought by female candidates. Not much more than a couple of decades ago, the thought of a Barack Obama or a Hillary Clinton as president seemed more fantasy than reality. In the past 25 years, however, political barriers have fallen. Many of those barriers were shattered by Carol Moseley Braun, the first (and to date, only) African-American woman to serve in the United States Senate. The historical importance of Moseley Braun’s election from the politically vital state of Illinois (the state has voted for the candidate who would win nearly every presidential election) still reverberates today.…